Ever seen the FREE JUNK REMOVAL advertisements? I never pay them much attention, especially since I have learned how to keep my life – and possessions – very simple. I have very little physical “junk” left in my life, but my flesh is quite good at accumulating junk of its own. Just the other day, I realized how blessed I am that the Lord through faith in Jesus Christ offers FREE JUNK REMOVAL to His children. How so? The Bible says it best, reminding me that the blood Jesus Christ shed for me allows me to confess my JUNK to the Lord so He can provide His FREE REMOVAL. At the end of the day, I do not receive a bill for the junk removal. Jesus Christ already paid the…

The Lord has really put the word TRUST on my heart over the past week or so. Over and over, He has convicted me that I MUST TRUST Him. He truly knows what He is doing. It is one thing for me to tell people I trust Him. It is another to truly trust Him. My words, my thoughts, AND my actions should prove it. The Lord wants me to TRUST and to OBEY Him.Twice in the past month or so, coastal South Carolina has endured a tremendous amount of rain. The first time around, I could barely keep myself from complaining. Of course, the Lord had just shown me that He wanted me to stop complaining in all areas of my life. What a test! The rain simply would…

I cannot remember when the words came to me, but I cannot forget that they did. Only the Lord would make such a play on words. We all know that when it rains, it pours. But the Lord reminded me that when He reigns, He pours forth His Holy Spirit. He pours forth His love, His mercy, His forgiveness, His tenderness, His peace, His blessings, His everything wonderful.In the past 24 hours in coastal South Carolina, we have experienced an onslaught of thunderstorms and rain. In one area, someone reported seeing baseball sized hail. In another area, someone reported golf ball sized hail. Where I live, I didn’t care what size the hail was. I only wanted it to stop. With all the Walk by Faith Ministry dogs, including those…

Call me crazy, but this morning I thanked God for toilet paper. Why is that crazy? Really, it is not. Really, what is crazy is how little I have thanked God through the years for all of His provisions – from salvation, healing, and the safety of my loved ones all the way down to my toothbrush and toilet paper. My mother reminded me just the other day how she raised me to be grateful and not to complain. It took me 4 decades to realize she was right all along. So maybe now I am going to extremes in thanking God even for the little things, but how extreme is that really? I am extremely, utterly, eternally, wonderfully grateful for all of God’s provisions – most importantly for my…

I can only imagine one of the devil’s favorite weapons is discouragement. I couldn’t help but think of this as I designed Walk by Faith Ministry’s business cards this afternoon. I wondered why I was struggling with designing the cards until I realized our business cards can be a gateway into the fold of the ministry, and ultimately into the arms of the Lord. I think of the cards as an invitation, and a welcome, to the ministry. And, of course, the ministry’s main mission is to share the Gospel as we minister the Lord’s love to people and homeless dogs, too. So the devil would love nothing more than to close the very doors I stand in faith God will continue to open. As my pastor has told me,…

When people ask me to sign my brand new book, Slow Dance with Jesus, I politely refuse. How can I possibly take an ounce of credit for what I now refer to as the “miracle book”? I clearly have to – and want to – give ALL glory to God.Who but God could conceive, create, write, design, print, publish, distribute internationally, and sell out a book in just 7 weeks? I have told just about everyone how I was working on another book when I started pressing into the Lord to tell me how I could truly worship Him in writing a book for Him. On February 2, as I exited the bathroom of all creative places (not!), the Lord gave me the title to the book. Over the next few…

The book the Lord conceived on February 2, 2011, Slow Dance with Jesus: Inspiration for Intimacy with the Lord, has now been written, laid out, printed, and published in under six weeks! Please help me celebrate my first published book in print by considering a donation to Walk by Faith Ministry for a copy of the book. More information is available on our website at Walk by Faith Ministry. Praise the Lord!Please visit Walk by Faith Ministry at http://www.walkbyfaithministry.com.

On March 14, 2011, my sweet senior special needs dog St. Francis who was flown just months ago cross country to escape euthanization in a California shelter and know the love, safety, and care he may never have known, took the final leg of his journey when he went to be with Jesus in heaven.Just before his final flight, I took him with Red the infamous German Shepherd for a cheeseburger at McDonald’s and his first visit to the beach. I had to carry him a long ways to get him there, but it was worth every moment of carrying him there. Though he could not hear, I spoke to him anyway.”The next time you see this beach, St. Francis, you’ll be looking down from heaven,” I told him as he…

I praise the Lord He has conceived in me, and birthed through me, my first ever book in print. Books will be available to order very soon……..! Please visit Walk by Faith Ministry at http://www.walkbyfaithministry.com.

When I was a little girl, I wrote so fast and furiously that my mother had to scramble through her pocketbook at the grocery store to come up with scraps of anything at all for the words that would come tumbling forth. I sat in my front yard with my best friend Sarah as words flew out of me onto yellow legal pads of paper. At the lemonade stand belonging to me and my brother Eric, we ran out of lemonade. I ran indoors to grab the poetry I wrote to sell at the stand. Some years later, my father and mother gave me their oceanfront condo for a summer for me to write a book. My father said we would discover that summer if I had the discipline to be…

I love to tell people that I have strong faith in God, but I need to put my feet where my mouth is. It is one thing to tell people that I have confidence in the Lord. It is another thing altogether to take actions that show that I do. Talking faith really doesn’t amount to a hill of beans if my feet aren’t walking by faith and my actions aren’t demonstrating it. Over the past few weeks, I had a wonderful opportunity to move my feet and not just my mouth.Walk by Faith Ministry’s first book was headed to the book designer and then the printer, the fence man was finishing up the privacy fencing for the Walk by Faith dogs, medical supplies needed to be ordered, bills had…

St. Francis, the super sweet special needs senior stray dog who was flown cross country and then down the East Coast a few months back after being whisked out of a California shelter, has settled in beautifully to Walk by Faith Ministry’s doggie sanctuary but is definitely tip toeing toward heaven.Special needs St. Francis with mostly blind Glory! Thankfully, his emergency neuter surgery to correct his prostate issues successfully eradicated that medical issue, but his age is showing. Moving around can be a big challenge, to say the least. Disc issues combined with old age make life a lot less enjoyable than it used to be. In fact, he has taken plenty of tumbles since arriving at Walk by Faith Ministry.I learned long ago that there is a time to let…

Our SPECIAL adoptable dogs deserve SPECIAL homes, so Walk by Faith Ministry has decided to run an adoption SPECIAL to encourage people to consider adopting a dog from us and to help spread the word. Though we ordinarily adopt only in our region, we have been able at times to make special exceptions for the right home is found for the right dog. Please pray for our adoptable dogs, as some of them have been with us for quite a while!For the months of March and April, our reduced adoption fee will be $75 rather than the usual $100, plus the usual home visit fee. Because we specialize in extreme cases, some of our dogs stay with us for life as we are set up somewhat like a hospice and sanctuary! That…

I don’t know about anyone else’s preparation for ministry, but for over two years now I have gone through a grueling, gut-wrenching, God-fearing, boot camp for ministry that has been a far cry from anything I would have expected would qualify as ministry training. When I told my pastor years ago I had been called into ministry, he kindly informed me I would now embark on my journey of preparation and handed me a ticket with a big smile. I balked. Preparation? I figured all I needed to do was pack my suitcase, jam my Bible into my knapsack, and off I would go into ministry. Not so. The preparation had begun. And not in a million years would I have imagined what that preparation would look like. Boot camp,…

When God doesn’t make sense, will you obey Him anyway? When God told Simon Peter to go into the deep and let down his nets to catch fish, Simon Peter had a quick, logical response: “Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing (Luke 5:5 KJV).” Now, that makes sense! Why should Simon Peter go fishing in the deep when it is plain and clear there is nothing to catch? Why? Because God said so! Here is Simon Peter’s decision: “…nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net (Luke 5:5 KJV).” So what happened because of his decision to obey even when God didn’t make sense?Simon Peter and his buddies caught so many fish they had to ask the fishermen from the neighboring ship to…

Meet the “outdoor” dogs of Walk by Faith Ministry, some of whom have been waiting long and patiently for new homes! These “outdoor” dogs are “indoor dogs”. They have their own heated and air-conditioned building with a doggie door and an enormous fenced and fun yard (part of which is not visible in the video). They also have a massive covered sandbox, lots of toys, and plenty of space to sunbathe and other areas to cool off in the shade. PLEASE SEE THE VIDEO BELOW TO MEET THE OTHER SPECIAL DOGS OF WALK BY FAITH MINISTRY – ON AN ESPECIALLY SLEEP, SNUGGLY, GRAY WINTER DAY!Please visit Walk by Faith Ministry at http://www.walkbyfaithministry.com.

If you’ve ever wanted an up close and personal look at Walk by Faith Ministry’s very special dogs, please enjoy this sneak peek at what they like to do on a gray, cold, winter’s day….A second video will be posted to view the rest of the Walk by Faith Ministry dogs. Be blessed!Please visit Walk by Faith Ministry at http://www.walkbyfaithministry.com.

For anyone following the ongoing stories of some of our special needs, miracle dogs, here is an update…..1. Mother Theresa, whom I thought was headed for heaven ages ago, is still plodding along – slowly but surely. She is with us permanently, as our special needs dogs often are unless we can find them very special homes willing to take on the extra responsibilities of dogs like Mother Theresa.2. Winnie, our two-footed dog (no back feet due to train accident) is as happy as can be and loves her outings into the public where she gets plenty of attention with her big, beautiful eyes and wonderful, exuberant personality.3. Glory, our mostly blind cocker spaniel, got all her hair shaved yesterday courtesy of Christ Trotter the groomer whose business is next…

Does God have a foot fetish? Probably not, but I can share five phenomenal examples of the Lord when it comes to feet. And, if you do not believe the Holy Spirit speaks to people today, a whole bunch of feet may just prove you wrong.Tonight, I e-mailed a friend in Pennsylvania to ask for prayer as I work on my new book project. He e-mailed his prayer to me. He had prayed for God to guide my footsteps. I was working at the time on several paragraphs about footsteps, footprints, and my walk.Yesterday, I prayed with a friend for her cousin. I know virtually nothing about her cousin. I prayed as the Holy Spirit led me. I told my friend her cousin had things to confess, that she had…

“I’m going to keep allowing you to be offended until you learn how not to be offended,” the Lord told me just minutes ago. Have you ever noticed the places where you trip up the most are the ones where the Lord will allow you to continue to fall? What kind of Father would watch His children stumble, trip, and land smack on their faces repeatedly rather than lead them around the rough patches of their journey? “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not (1 John 3:1 KJV).” The Lord loves us so much that He lets us go through the rough patches because these places…

I know you had an abortion. Tough title, eh? Tough and true. But you say, impossible. I never had an abortion. Or, I already repented. Best yet, you say, I am a man so it’s not possible. It never ceases to amaze me how many Christians speak out against abortion and go home and hide their own. Impossible, right? Not at all. I have yet to meet a human being who has not in one way or another aborted the purposes of God for his or her life.I have yet to know a person who has not in some way stopped God from moving through his or her life to birth a dream of His. I have yet to cross paths with someone who has not at some level prevented God’s…

Just when I feel I am finally making some headway with the book I am writing, I have a sneaking suspicion I may need to start all over. In fact, I am not quite sure I am supposed to be writing this book at all. Furthermore, if I am meant to be writing it, I may need to begin from the beginning. Or, I may need to try an altogether different style. How can this be? How, after the countless hours, days, and weeks I have poured into this project could I possibly let go and begin again? Better yet, how could I stop writing this book, let it go completely, and start a totally different book project? I have prayed my heart out over this, I have pressed into…

Yesterday, as the Lord showed me the people and things He had wanted me to let go, He threw me a curve ball. “Stop holding onto me,” He told me. How crazy was that? He has told me to stop clinging to certain people and things, and that I need to cleave to Him. So how could He possibly in the same breath tell me to stop holding onto Him? What was He thinking? More importantly, what was I thinking? The Lord spoke into my heart, and quickly it all became clear. He told me that I was holding onto Him in a way that was not allowing Him to move in my life.In other words, I was trying to exert control over Him. My God! While I constantly pray…

I just got back from a wonderful new haircut, and I cannot help but be reminded how often we neglect to fully understand the principle of sowing. Sure, we know that we reap when we sow, right? But why do we automatically assume the best way to sow is financially? I do not have a budget to get my hair cut regularly, but I have a beautiful, treasure of a dear friend who is a former hairdresser. Whenever I need a cut or trim, I drive down the road to her house, plop myself down in her chair, and receive everything I need and desire – friendship, love, prayer if I need it, and an awesome haircut. “One day, maybe I can sow money into your ministry,” my friend said as…

I will never forget the summer my parents lent me their ocean front condominum for several months so that in the words of my father, “we will see this summer if you have the discipline to be a writer.” I will never remember that summer because of all the writing I did, because what stands out above all else is that I sacrificed my writing for a summer of drunkenness, inappropriate relationships and ultimately a decision to commit suicide. I did not know Jesus Christ, and I did not know there was any other way than what I knew. I certainly did not have the discipline to be a writer, but it would take me 20 more years to realize that the word discipline comprises the word disciple. How could…

When life gets too serious, the Lord has a way of sending me a few good laughs. St. Francis, our new special needs senior, was neutered a few days ago and is now the proud wearer of what I call an ice cream cone collar. No big deal, right? It is when this deaf sweetheart who stumbles and sometimes falls goes gallivanting off until he crashes into blind little Glory, the special needs cocker. He cannot hear hear her; she cannot see him, and I cannot help but laugh. But this is not all. I am finally focused once again on my current book project and have at last serenely settled onto my cheap chair and tiny folding dinner tray table for a desk. Who do you think has figured…

“O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvelous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.” Psalm 98:1 KJVAmid a night of so much tossing and turning I am surprised I was not seasick, I managed to sleep just long enough last evening for the Lord to put a new song in my heart with a most marvelous message. First, in my dream, He gave me a scripture about a new song. True to His Word, there are a number of scriptures in the Bible about a “new song”.In the dream He gave me, I sang every word of an entire song I had never heard before with utter clarity. Oh, how I wish I had roused myself out of…

When God told me He wanted me to sacrifice my husband and marriage, I held onto a seed of hope that God would return to me my sacrifice just as He gave Abraham back the sacrifice of his son Isaac. But yesterday as the man I married piled into his pickup, drove himself to the country county courthouse, and stood before a judge to divorce me, the Lord reaffirmed in me an awesome lesson He has taught me about the true significance of sacrifice.Real sacrifice does not give something up so I can get what I want in return. Real sacrifice does not put expectations on the Lord to get back anything at all. Real sacrifice is an act of love and obedience to the Lord that surrenders that which…

When God takes you to a new level, or a new land, get ready. Fasten your seatbelt, say your prayers, and make absolutely certain you are studying and applying His Word. Why? More than likely, you will not know your way around when you get there. Imagine your first trip into a foreign country where absolutely everything is unfamiliar, new, different, and, yes, foreign. I have just arrived at a new level, or a new land, and admittedly I feel out of sorts – to say the very least. What am I doing here? How did I get here? When will I get over this jet lag? Should I go back where I came from? What am I supposed to do? Thankfully, I did not arrive here alone. The Lord…

About

Walk by Faith Ministry

Lovingly led by evangelist & author Lara Love as she shares the Gospel while ministering the Lord's love to a world in need. Lara does a combo of writing and publishing books, almost Daily Inspiration online and in print, and Gospel tracts & devotionals; preaching God's Word as the Lord leads her; streets & beach ministry; and providing sanctuary-style care for special needs & senior rescued dogs.